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Behind the mask

I wrote the story for a photo package in this morning's Globe about the production of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. Click here to see it on Boston.com with even more pictures than were in the paper. (At the moment, the regular Globe online page for the story has no pix.)

Boston Ballet announces 2007-8 season

Straight from the in box:

BOSTON BALLET'€™s 2007-2008 SEASON

Highlights include tour to Spain, gala performance, three world premieres, and the company premieres of John Cranko'€™s celebrated Romeo and Juliet and Antony Tudor'€™s remarkable Dark Elegies

BOSTON, March 29, 2007 - Following a six-week tour to Spain that launches the 2007-2008 season, Boston Ballet returns home to begin rehearsals for six programs that encompass more than 170 years of ballet and showcase the versatility of the dancers. 

The Company inaugurates its Boston season on Friday, October 12 with Night of Stars: A Boston Ballet Gala Performance. Like last year'€™s gala performance, the first staged by Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen, this one-night-only event will feature the entire company and showcase all Boston Ballet principal dancers and internationally renowned guest artists in a special program. A week later, the Company will open its customary six-program schedule with two riveting works by George Balanchine, Monumentum pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra -€“ first danced by Boston Ballet in 2003 -€“ which share the bill with Sorella Englund'€™s acclaimed staging of August Bournonville'€™s two-act La Sylphide. This definitive production of Bournonville'€™s masterpiece is one of two programs being presented by Boston Ballet in Spain; the other is an all-Balanchine triple bill featuring Serenade, Who Cares? (concert version) and The Four Temperaments. Boston Ballet will dance three additional full-length ballets during the 2007-08 season: Mikko Nissinen'€™s magical production of The Nutcracker in December, the company premiere of John Cranko'€™s beloved Romeo and Juliet in February, and a new staging of Marius Petipa'€™s thrilling La Bayadere in May.

Next Generation, a mixed repertory program in March, will feature three world premieres and a company premiere. Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo will create his fifth work for Boston Ballet, and Helen Pickett, whose Etesian was one of the big hits of the 2005-2006 season, returns to create her second piece for the Company. The third world premiere will be choreographed by Boston Ballet second soloist Heather Myers, marking her first work for a major dance company. Also on the program is the United States premiere of Ein von Viel by Canadian choreographer Sabrina Matthews, making her American debut. The season concludes in May with a triple bill spotlighting Antony Tudor'€™s poignant Dark Elegies, a heartbreaking depiction of  grief and loss. Two additional ballets on this program will be announced at a later date.

"I take many things into account in planning the season,"€ said Nissinen, "€œand two of my biggest  considerations are challenging the dancers with all different kinds of work, and Boston Ballet'€™s commitment to the community. Iâ€'m always looking to expose our dancers and our audiences to a good mixture of classical, neo-classical and contemporary ballets. Dancers grow and flourish on diversity, and so do audiences. Some of our patrons prefer big story ballets, and others prefer more contemporary pieces. But it'€™s good for everyone to experience a broad range of works. I€'m very excited about our Next Generation program. This art form thrives on new choreography; remember, Swan Lake was once brand new. I am very pleased to present an evening that includes three world premieres and a company premiere by choreographers who represent the future of ballet. The story ballets we are dancing this season offer all kinds of challenges. Cranko'€™s Romeo and Juliet demands as much from the dancers dramatically as it does choreographically. La Sylphide embodies the Romantic style of ballet. And La Bayadere is the epitome of Petipa classicism, especially Act III, "œThe Kingdom of the Shades,"€ which is one of the supreme tests for the corps de ballet. I'€™m delighted to introduce our dancers and our audiences to Tudor'€™s Dark Elegies, an extraordinary work of art that demands an understated style of movement. And our commitment to Balanchine continues, not just with Monumentum Pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra, but with the three works the Company will perform this summer in Spain."

All performances are held at Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre with the exception of The Nutcracker, which returns to The Opera House for the third consecutive year.

 

Lots to read

Both papers are all over local arts institutions today, which is a good thing. ... You may remember my previous paeans to the jumbo-size insanity that artists can cook up in Building 5 at MassMOCA, a gallery where you could park a 707. Well, an artist with an ego that's apparently about that size is in the middle of a huge fight with the museum over his half-finished installation. Geoff has a story in the paper here, and more online here. ... He also asked Malcolm Rogers if the vacancy at the top of the National Portrait Gallery is giving him wanderlust, and the MFA director said no. As usual, through a spokesman, denying us the look on his face. ... Meanwhile over at the Herald, Bob Young has a nice piece on international students at Berklee in advance of Thursday's International Night concert.

Readings

My North Shore neighbor Keith Ablow's talk show hasn't been renewed for a second season, sez the Herald. ...  The New Rep announces its '07-'08 schedule, from the Globe.

More Winehouse!

No surprise, the May 7 Amy Winehouse show at Paradise has been moved to Avalon to accommodate demand. Tix are $15, a bargain for this hot property, and on sale now at the Orpheum box office, Ticketmaster and livenation.com.

More than bad feelings

Here's an AP story out of New Hampshire with the continuing saga of Boston, Tom Scholz, Brad Delp and all the rest. It ain't pretty. But for Delp's suicide, though, it would seem pretty standard rock'roll crap, the usual backstabbing and bickering. People don't kill themselves over this, not if they're thinking clearly.

Get your opera on

In this Globe story, James Levine talks about this weekend's performances of Beethoven's "Fidelio." And you can hear it even if you can't make it to Symphony Hall, according to this email from WGBH:

On Sunday, March 25 at 2pm, WGBH 89.7 FM celebrates Boston's rich tradition of opera with an exclusive live broadcast of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's production of Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio. The exclusive broadcast will begin with interviews and music at 2pm, followed by the live performance from Boston's Symphony Hall at 3pm. The entire program will also stream live worldwide on 89.7 FM Live and All-Classical WGBH HD2 at wgbh.org/classical.

BSO Music Director James Levine leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in this performance of Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, featuring performances by soprano Christine Brewer (Leonore), soprano Lisa Milne (Marzelline) and tenor Johan Botha (Florestan).

Fidelio caused its composer Beethoven many years of struggle. Beethoven revised it twice after its 1805 premiere. The definitive version, first heard in 1814, was a great success. "Fidelio" is the name assumed by the opera's heroine Leonore while disguised as a man in order to rescue her husband, Florestan, who has been unjustly imprisoned for political reasons.

Hockey and harmony

No, I don't quite get it either. But someone in this era of daring and confusion for the entertainment business must have crunched the numbers and come up with the counterintuitive conclusion that people who like watching NHL players skate and shoot and occasionally beat the crap out of each other will also like a couple of hot young chicks playing a sort of country-pop-rock. Certainly the idea to have The Wreckers play after Thursday night's  Boston Bruins game is not as automatic as the one to get their music on "One Tree Hill." But these days the conventional wisdom is kaput, exposure is exposure, and getting your peanut butter in my chocolate is called synergy. So suffice to say that Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp should be at least as entertaining as the last gasp of the Bruins' playoff chances. The game begins at the Garden at 7:30. It's one ticket for both events, and prices go as low as $10. Tix are available at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, at  (617) 931-2222 or the Bruins web site, with special deals for students at the box office. Y'all come on down.

OK, this sucks

The saddest note about the local arts scene I've heard all week comes in this note to the Globe's Exhibitionist blog.

Eddie Coyle, remembered

The best Boston mob movie before "The Departed" was "The Friends of Eddie Coyle," based on the novel by former Boston prosecutor George Higgins and shot here with Robert Mitchum and many other fine actors. There's an appreciation and an excellent trailer for the 1973 cult fave here.